For the third time in 16 years, Lake County Judge Christopher
Starck
Sentenced CWC Client Juan Rivera to Life Without Parole
On Thurday, June 25, 2009 and for the third time in 16 years, Lake County Judge Christopher Starck sentenced CWC client Juan Rivera to Life Without Parole for the 1992 rape and murder of 11-year old Holly Staker in Waukegan, Illinois. Rivera was twice convicted of the crime before DNA testing positively excluded him as the source of semen recovered from the child. But last month, a predominantly white Lake County jury chose to disregard all the physical evidence recovered from the crime scene — all of which excluded Rivera. Instead they chose to believe the statement Rivera purportedly gave to Lake County Major Crimes Task Force officers after 4 days of intense interrogation — including a final non-stop session lasting 26 hours.
Starck presided over Rivera's two previous trials. Despite repeated requests by defense counsel to recuse himself due to concerns about his objectivity, Starck insisted he could be fair to Rivera in his third trial. Yet in April, just prior to jury selection, Starck suggested that Rivera had spent a long time in prison and asked him if he wanted to plead guilty and forgo another trial. Rivera declined Starck's offer and hoped the 2009 jury would weigh the 80-plus items of physical evidence pointing to another man against his coerced statement and finally set him free. But he was wrong.
Most cases like Juan’s are simply dropped once there’s a DNA exclusion. But Lake County States' Attorney Michael Waller and Assistant States' Attorney Michael Mermel weren't about to admit they'd sent an innocent man to prison — twice. Instead, they bet a jury would put more stock in Rivera's confession than in science. And they were right.
The post-trial motion filed Friday — June 5, 2009 — explains how this miscarriage of justice occurred.
Motion Appendices : 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
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